City Assembly to take action on opting out of APOC

Voters may be asked to exempt officeholders from state fiscal reporting rules

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly is expected to take action Monday on a proposal to ask voters to eliminate state financial disclosures for elected officials and others who serve the city.

The proposal will put up a ballot question in the fall that, if passed, would allow the city to not report individual elected officials’ financial information to Alaska Public Office of Commissions. Instead, the city plans on adopting its own set of financial disclosure rules. It can change who has to report and what information is reported. It can modify its own plan to the extent of state law prior to 2007 amendments.

The proposal was initiated by Mayor Bruce Botelho, who has concerns about keeping that information offline, but still available to the public. APOC has proposed putting that information online, making it widely and publicly accessible.

The change also includes a stipulation of who may bring enforcement action. This will limit action against Juneau’s elected officials by private persons to qualified Juneau voters.

The Assembly is also slated to take action on a zoning change for the area around the Breakwater Inn.

The Breakwater is requesting a zoning change from D-5 Residential to Waterfront Commercial. It was built in 1966 in a commercial zone, but in 1969 it was rezoned to residential. The business now wants to expand, but under current zoning requirements it can’t do so. The recommendation to the Assembly is to approve the zoning change for the parcel, but require any new or expanded use to obtain a conditional use permit.

In other business, Assemblyman Jonathan Anderson will be ending his term Monday. Appointee Katherine Eldemar is scheduled to be sworn in.